All aboard! Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, as your favorite innovation newsletter rides the rails of a busy early-Spring workweek – and punches the ticket of its latest first-class sponsor.
Emission mission: The freight-hauling New York & Atlantic Railway is significantly reducing Long Island vehicular emissions, while connecting Island importers and exporters to nationwide rail hubs.
Today, Innovate Long Island is thrilled to welcome to the family the New York & Atlantic Railway, a vital logistical cog moving tons (and tons and tons) of freight to, from and across Long Island – and connecting Island buyers and sellers to rail hubs around the nation, all while reducing vehicular emissions from Brooklyn to the East End.
This, of course, tracks nicely with our innovation-economy mission. More on our new sponsor below – everyone else, please have your tickets ready. This is the Wednesday Express to Superior Socioeconomics. Next stop: Innovation!
War and peace: Today is March 25, and NYA joins us as we rise respectfully for National Medal of Honor Day, saluting recipients of the highest military decoration awarded by the U.S. government – to service members for gallantry and intrepidity in combat, and civilians who display similarly fearless heroism.
On the other end of the human experience, we find Bed-In For Peace Day, remembering John and Yoko and their conscientious-objector efforts to end wars from between the sheets.
Have it your way: Anything goes on International Waffle Day.
It’s what’s for dinner: Also putting up a strong fight is National Lobster Newburgh Day (celebrating creamy, buttery, cognac-y lobster baked into a pastry shell) – but today’s holiday menu begins and ends with International Waffle Day, a sweet, savory and however-else-you-like-it feast that absolutely qualifies breakfast for dinner (and recalls a Swedish salute to the Virgin Mary?!?) every March 25.
Wales’s rails: Speaking of trains, the world’s first passenger railroad – a 12-seat carriage pulled by two horses along the five-mile Swansea-Mumbles rail line, near the Gower Coast in southern Wales – began service on this date in 1807.
Ambrose’s ammo: Also on track was American Army officer, politician and inventor Ambrose Burnside, who patented the Burnside Carbine – the first breech-loading rifle – on March 25, 1856. (He also invented sideburns, since you asked.)
Big steps: Martin Luther King Jr. led 25,000 nonviolent protestors to the steps of the Alabama state capitol on this date in 1965.
Martin’s march: Speaking of nonviolent protests, it was 61 years ago today when Martin Luther King Jr. and thousands of his peaceful friends arrived on the steps of the state capitol in Montgomery, Ala., completing the five-day, 54-mile, uber-historic Selma to Montgomery March.
Concorde’s confirmation: Also going places was the Concorde 002 – the second prototype of the Anglo-French airliner, built specifically to prove that supersonic passenger planes were feasible – which made its point on this date in 1970, when it broke the sound barrier for the first time (achieving Mach 1.15, for those keeping score).
Wiki’s wonders: And it was March 25, 1995, when pioneering American computer programmer Ward Cunningham flipped the switch on the WikiWikiWeb, marking a giant leap toward a more collaborative Internet.
While user-generated content and open-source reporting are the way of the digital world now, the WikiWikiWeb was, officially, the first “wiki.” (For the record, that’s Hawaiian for “quick” and not an acronym for “what I know is,” which is actually a backronym.)
Well-respected: American singer, songwriter, pianist and activist Aretha Louise Franklin (1942-2018) – an 18-time Grammy-winner, powerful voice for civil and women’s rights and the undisputed “Queen of Soul” – would be 84 years old today.
This is Howard Cosell: And he sure had a lot to say, good and bad.
Also born on March 25 were American inventor and educator William Wait (1839-1916), who tried (and failed) to better Braile with the New York Point System, an intricate writing system for the blind featuring 26 capital letters, 26 lowercase letters, numerals, punctuation marks and more; American sports journalist, broadcaster and author Howard Cosell (1918-1995), remembered best for his verbosity, pomposity and earth-scorching autobiography; British anthropologist Dame Mary Douglas (1921-2007), a preeminent 20th Century expert on human culture and symbolism; American businesswoman and producer Eileen Cecile Ford (1922-2014), the Great Neck-born “Matriarch of the Modeling Industry”; and American Naval aviator and astronaut James Lovell Jr. (1928-2025), unshakable commander of 1970’s ill-fated Apollo 13 mission.
Ms. America: And take a bow, Gloria Marie Steinem! The American journalist, lecturer, feminist and social-political activist – arguably modern history’s strongest voice for both gender equity and gender equality – turns 92 today.
Send your best to the champion of feminism at editor@innovateli.com, where we leverage the equity in your news tips and treat every calendar event with equal respect.
About our sponsor: New York & Atlantic Railway is the primary freight railroad for New York City and Long Island and has operated the Long Island Rail Road’s freight lease since 1997, on tracks shared with the nation’s busiest commuter rail system. Through its service connections, NYA links Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk to every major North American freight railroad – moving goods efficiently and affordably while reducing congestion and emissions across the region. Learn more here.
BUT FIRST, THIS
Block party: From our Innovate Connecticut desk (we really do like the sound of that) comes FuelCell Energy, looking to increase its alternative-energy footprint one tiny footstep at a time.
Danbury-based FuelCell, which operates a 7.4-megawatt fuel cell system at the Town of Brookhaven Landfill in Yaphank, has rolled out new 12.5 MW power blocks designed to help data-center developers generate utility-scale power quickly and efficiently. From a footprint the size of two tennis courts, the Yaphank operation – announced in 2018, operating since 2022 – pumps enough juice into the regional grid to power 7,500 homes; FuelCell believes it can achieve similar small-footprint, big-output results with its new power blocks, which essentially integrate five of FuelCell’s already-commercialized 2.5 MW fuel cell energy blocks, each of which combines two of the company’s available 1.25 MW blocks.
More than simply multiplying output, the new blocks address a specific need, according to FuelCell Energy President and CEO Jason Few. “The challenge facing data centers today isn’t just how much power they need – it’s how quickly they can get it, and if the power they buy today will provide the power they need tomorrow,” Few noted. “As AI growth collides with grid constraints and other power sources not built for the evolving world of digital intelligence, customers need infrastructure‑grade solutions.”
Physicist friends: Theoretical physicists Jack Yongfeng Zhang (right), Mary Zi-Ping (left) and C.N. Yang go way back.
Match game: Supersized by a private investment portfolio and a state-run endowment program, an eight-digit alumnus donation is set to transform scientific excellence across Stony Brook University.
Stony Brook’s C.N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics has received an historic $12 million endowment gift from alumnus Jack Yongfeng Zhang and his wife, Mary Zi-Ping Luo, honoring the legacy of late, great theoretical physicist Chen-Nig Yang, a Nobel laureate whose vision and leadership elevated the university to global prominence. The hefty endowment, which by itself ensures years of theoretical-physics innovation, also earns a 50 percent bump through the New York State Endowment Match program and a dollar-for-dollar match from the Simons Infinity Investment – resulting in a total $36 million windfall for the C.N. Yang Institute.
That transformational sum will reinforce SBU’s broader mission to drive discovery and expand research opportunities campus-wide, according to Stony Brook University President Andrea Goldsmith. “Jack and Mary’s investment … ensures that the next generation of visionaries and researchers can thrive,” Goldsmith noted. “Their extraordinary generosity reflects a deep commitment to Professor Yang’s legacy and strengthens the future of our university.”
TOP OF THE SITE
Ready and able: Island Harvest Food Bank has graduated a milestone cohort from its ambitious Workforce Skills Development Institute, which aims to break the food-insecurity cycle by training under-skilled participants for professional logistics careers.
Music to your ears: More great episodes of “Spark: The Innovate Long Island Podcast” are on the way – but Molloy University President (and internationally renowned musician) James Lentini has already kicked off our sixth season on a very high note.
VOICES
Regional colleges and universities do terrific work preparing the next generation of public relations professionals. But according to Voices Media Anchor David Chauvin, those same schools – and their regional industrial partners – drop the ball when it comes to keeping all that young talent working and living Long Island.
STUFF WE’RE READING
Nailed it: A Chinese manufacturer’s $54 billion EV innovation has Western automakers worried. Inc. electrifies engineering.
Perils of the AI agent: Without human oversight, automation can be the worst innovation of all. Forbes applauds accountability.
Innovation inventory: From Google to Nintendo to The Onion, meet the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2026. Fast Company’s quick count.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Flourish Care, a Massachusetts-based maternal healthcare platform, raised $5.7 million in Seed funding led by Zeal Capital Partners, with participation from Create Health Ventures, Collide Capital, Rogue Women’s Fund, Symphonic Capital, Slater Technology Fund, Catalytic Impact Foundation and Capita3.
+ Meadow, a New York City-based funeral-planning platform, raised $9 million in Series A funding led by Lachy Groom and Haystack.
+ BlueFlag Security, a California-based, identity-centric Software Development Lifecycle security and governance platform, raised $16.5 million in Series A funding led by Maverick Ventures and Ten Eleven Ventures.
+ Hoisted.ai, a California-based software platform that increases the efficiency of Graphics Processing Unit infrastructures, raised $19 million in Seed funding led by Creandum, with participation from People Ventures and Repeat VC.
+ Oryon Cell Therapies, a Massachusetts-based clinical-stage biotech developing treatments for Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders, raised $21 million in expanded Series A funding, led by Neuro.VC and Byers Capital.
+ Bluesky, a Washington State-based social media app, raised $100 million in Series B funding led by Bain Capital Crypto, with participation from Anthos Capital, Bloomberg Beta, Knight Foundation, Alumni Ventures and True Ventures.
Like this newsletter? Innovate Long Island newsletter, website and podcast sponsorships are a prime opportunity to reach the inventors, investors, entrepreneurs and executives you need to know – on Long Island, and soon, across New York State (just ask New York & Atlantic Railway). Gregory Zeller can tell you more.
BELOW THE FOLD (“Project Hail Mary” Edition)
Big brains: Like “The Martian,” his previous book-turned-movie, Andy Weir’s “Project Hail Mary” dives deep into science.
Thinking about it: While Hollywood dumbs it down, “PHM” embraces intelligence and optimism.
Not just “Melania”: After several big losers, Amazon MGM celebrates a desperately needed win.
Alien arts: The science of writing books that become movies, according to Andy Weir.
Everything on the line: Please continue supporting the creative companies that support Innovate Long Island, including the New York & Atlantic Railway, which is tackling regional logistical and environmental issues before things get really desperate. Check them out.
